February 3, 2012 Movie Releases

The year is 1988 and the Cold War is winding down - no one really knew it at the time though, nevertheless, winding down it still was. But in a small town in Alaska a news reporter stumbles across a story about a Inuit hunter who finds three California whales trapped in the Artic ice. The whales must be saved and Drew Barrymore, an environmental activist is determined to be their knight in shining armor, or a heavy down jacket or sometimes a SCUBA suit.

Barrymore and John Krasinski (who plays the news reporter) race against time to save the whales bringing together everyone they can find like other townspeople and oil companies' boats, the US military, Communists, Ronald Reagan, a surly mayor, to help save these whales.

It might be fun for the kids and tolerable for the parents but my guess is not too many people want to travel through the snow to go see a movie that takes place in the arctic. Also, Big Miracle is inspired by a true story so who knows how much creative license was taken to turn this whale of a tale (ah, see what I did there) into feature film.

I'm not the biggest fan of the "handheld camera to make it look real" trick that has become the cop-out for a lot of films these days wanting the "real" feel of movies. And I'm not one for this type of film either. In fact, just looking at the poster and the concept, I didn't think it looked like a very good movie.

Then I watched the trailer and, ya know, it looks kind of fun and dark. It's a cheap version of X-Men that is probably better than the last X-Men movie.

Three high schoolers suddenly get some powers and the movie takes a real approach to how a few teenagers might handle the new superpower of being able to move things with their mind and the flip of a wrist. They mess with people and have fun at other people's expense but then one of them gets dark and motions a tailgater off of the road. One of these teenagers now has a taste of the joys of evil.

The movie stars a bunch of people you never really heard of and the only claim to fame is the writer Max Landis, who is the son of director Jon Landis, and if you've watched Friday Night Lights you would recognize Michael B. Jordan. This one is you'll have to decide on your own; for me, it's probably a Netflix.

The Harry Potter crew has been searching for employment ever since the film wrapped over a year ago. Some have had luck like Emma Watson's appearing in My Week with Marilyn and Harry Potter now has his turn in this week's film The Woman in Black.

It's hard to shed the image of a character you've played for so long and do that successfully, just as the Friends cast who have had problems finding life after Friends. In this small film, Daniel Radcliffe plays a young lawyer who goes to a remote town to help settle a woman's affairs. But the town has a secret and that secret is a creepy ghost of a woman in search of someone/something. This vengeful ghost won't stop her terrorizing until she finds it either.

We follow Daniel Radcliffe on this adventure as he deals with entities that want to do him harm. First Voldemort and now The Woman in Black.

It's a turn-of-the-century British thriller that may go along with the styles of today's rural horror films. It might be worth taking a look at.

An inn is closing down and there is a mystery about it being haunted that a couple of folks want to investigate. On the eve of the inn's closing, two employees and a couple of ghost hunters hope the last guests to stay at their hotel can bring forth the spirits. Strange things are afoot in The Innkeepers.

Sure it could be like Paranormal Activity or other generic horror films but the only thing rising from the dead is Kelly McGillis's career.

Supposedly a dark and thrilling import from England, The Kill List centers around a hitman who botched a job and finds himself without money, without a job and a crumbling family life so his friend decides to toss him one final job for a big pay off. Rarely is there a time when you get one last big assignment with a big pay off and it succeeds in movies - just ask thieves. Of course the more the hitman gets involved the more things go awry.

Not the most original plot and the trailer without a whole lot of spoken words may be a bit frightening but The Kill List appears to have some good critical reviews and more than a few laurels from big film festivals.

Well if you haven't heard of Perfect Sense I'm sure you're not alone. It could be a thriller, it could be a drama, it could be a love story. What it is though is two people who fall in love as an epidemic starts to take away people's senses. In Ewan McGregor's case, he is losing his sense of smell and quite possibly the ability to say no to a movie role.

Madonna writes! Madonna directs! Here's the story of an auction for the estate of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. The year is 1998 and a woman caught in an abusive marriage starts to have an affair as the love story also unfolds between the scandalous King Edward Part VIII and Wallis Simpson. If you saw The King's Speech then this is the love affair that caused King George's brother to step down.

It's part biopic and part romantic-fiction and it's been nominated for the Oscar for Best Achievement in Costume Design and won the Best Song Golden Globe performed by none other than Madonna.

At least there's a reason for some of the characters to have a British accent but Madonna's everyday British accent is still a mystery to all. And whether it's a good movie...well, Judi Dench isn't in it so who knows?